Adult Eastern Kingbird perched on a pickleweed – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I had a wonderful morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday. Because of the Coronavirus and earlier restrictions associated with it yesterday was the first time I’d been to the refuge since mid-April and it was great to be back.
Before I even got to the auto tour route I found two adult Short-eared Owls and then I was able to spot two of their fledglings nearly hidden in the grasses and blooming wildflowers. I saw one Western Grebe on their nest which had one egg but was saddened to see that grebe numbers are way down at the refuge compared to several years ago. I didn’t find a single Pied-billed Grebe yesterday and I used to see them on virtually every trip to the refuge during the spring, summer and fall. Water is critical for grebes to nest and after at least three years of low water levels next to the auto tour route many of the grebes may have nested elsewhere. Again.
Later in the morning I spotted a Long-billed Curlew family and took so many photos that I haven’t had time to go through them all but I found it interesting that all of the 5 to 6 curlew chicks appeared to be of different ages which I determined by their size and plumage and that there was only one adult male Long-billed Curlew with the chicks.
Note: Female Long-billed Curlews leave the males to rear their young and later in the morning I saw about 12 to 15 females foraging together in a grassy field.
One of the birds I was excited to see and photograph yesterday morning was an adult Eastern Kingbird perched on a pickleweed next to the road. Since I have been spending a lot of time in the mountains the last three summers I haven’t photographed many Eastern Kingbirds and I’ve missed them. After watching and photographing this adult I believe I discovered where it is nesting and I hope to go back soon to see if there will be young Eastern Kingbirds in that area. This was one of two Eastern Kingbirds I found yesterday morning and I decided to share it because I really like the setting.
Life is good. Stay safe.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Eastern Kingbird photos plus facts and information about this species.
Very nice feather detail and pose! This year we did not have the Pied-billed Grebes nesting on our lake, here in south Florida, maybe the first time I’ve noticed this over the past 10 years. They have strange calls which had me puzzled for a while until I found the source.
What a truly wonderful day.
Huge thanks for sharing one of the highlights.
I think this is one of my favorite poses birds do. The white fringed tail is nice!
How where the mosquitoes?
What a beauty! The slightly fanned tail is so striking.
Cool